Blissed out in Bali - Kandy Shepherd

I’ve just got back from a week of utter bliss in tropical Bali, Indonesia in honour of our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Just us, with no other family or friends for seven entire days.

This is the life! Waiting for lunch to be served at the resort restaurant

We reckoned that a quarter of a century of happy marriage deserved to be celebrated with a special vacation. And we couldn’t remember when we’d last gone away on a trip like this!

Our vacation was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary

People asked were we having a second honeymoon in the place where we had our first honeymoon. Actually, no. Our first honeymoon was three nights in a humble beach cottage that was kindly loaned to us by a friend of a friend. It was memorable for many reasons, not least of which we took our cat with us!

Tropical fruit juices were the order of the day

To tell the truth, the choice of the Bali destination was more mine than hubby’s. He’s rather more active than I am and didn’t know how he’d deal with just relaxing, reading (and in my case writing!), spa treatments, swimming, and eating wonderful food we didn’t have to cook (or clear up afterward). One thing was for sure—he refused to go shopping!

Indonesian sate with peanut sauce and red rice--the rice was something new to me and scrumptious!

Just a day into the break and he was thanking me wholeheartedly for booking the small, villa resort in Seminyak (on the west coast of the island of Bali) and giving us both a chance to wind down, relax and just talk to each other without everyday demands getting in the way.

The sunsets on the beach at Seminyak were spectacular

It was one of those vacations that I couldn’t fault—I loved every minute of it. The weather was perfect, the resort divine (The Elysian) and the Balinese people as charming and hospitable as we remembered from our first visit to Bali fourteen years ago.

A writer's work is never done--how inspiring to write under the shade of a frangipani tree!

Will Bali feature as a location in a future book? As it is such a romantic destination, I can certainly say “yes” to that!

What about you? Do you have a favorite vacation destination? Do you like a vacation packed with activities or one where you laze around? Did you have a memorable honeymoon—or second honeymoon? Please make a comment, I’d love to hear about it, and you can go in the draw for a free copy of my Harlequin Romance The Summer They Never Forgot to give away—either a mass market paperback or via an Amazon gift voucher for an e-book.

Please include your email address in your comment if you want to be included in the draw (and let me know if you prefer print or e-book.)

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.  The Summer They Never Forgot is Kandy’s first release from Harlequin Romance in the US, the UK and Australia. Watch out for her Harlequin Romance The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner to be published in July 14.

 Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Kitty companions – by Kandy Shepherd

 Some writers work in cafes or noisy parts of the house where they feel part of the world. Not me. I need to be by myself to write—away from noise and distraction so I can draw deep from my imagination and escape into the creative zone where the words start to flow. I like a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the closed door. And none of that music that other writers find so inspiring.

Alfie helps keep the printouts of my drafts from blowing away (actually he just likes the box!)

 That solitary, writerly existence could get lonely. Not so with cats for company.

Ivy supervises from a stack of books waiting to be filed

 There’s nothing three of my cats like better than to be with me—on my lap, on my desk, on a chair or floor nearby. As I write—often very late into the night—I’m never short of feline company.

Tabitha prefers to be on my lap as I type, but a nearby chair will do as second choice

 Of course my kitties can become a distraction. Like when the one who always wants to sit on my lap squeals in protest when my back starts aching and I lift her off. Or when two of them start to argue in escalatingly loud cat voices for possession of a prized cardboard box.

Ivy tucks herself neatly nearby behind my computer, sometimes I don't know she's there 

And my fourth cat? She’s primarily an outdoor cat who loves to go for walks with us around our farm and into the surrounding bushland. Sometimes during the day she appears at my window sill as if to urge me outside for some much-needed exercise. Being a natural-born procrastinator, that's often just the excuse I need to down tools!

Cindy makes sure I get off my chair and get some well-needed exercise

 What about you? Do you have a pet that keeps you company when you’re at home? When you're concentrating on a task do you need quiet or thrive on music or chatter?  Please make a comment, I’d love to hear about it!

I have one copy of my debut book for Harlequin Romance The Summer They Never Forgot to give away—either a mass market paperback or via an Amazon gift voucher for an e-book

Please include your email address in your comment if you want to be included in the draw (and let me know if you prefer print or e-book.)

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.  The Summer They Never Forgot is Kandy’s first release from Harlequin Romance in the US, the UK and Australia. Watch out for The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner in July 14.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Romantic moments — Kandy Shepherd

In the countdown to the most romantic day of the year—February 14 of course—I’m thinking of the most romantic thing someone has done for me.

It might well be my then boyfriend (we’d known each other for six months) going out to the airport to meet me from a work trip to India with a big bunch of flowers all ready to propose—and then waiting, waiting because the flight was actually due in the next day. So he went all the way home again, then the next day bought more flowers and went back out to the airport again. This time I got off the plane, he gave me the flowers, and then popped the question. Needless to say, I said yes and we were married as soon as we could organize it. We’ll celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in April.

Red roses for romance - we grow our own!

The romance is still alive but as we know each other so well, perhaps in a different way. My most recent gift from him was a speech recognition software program where I can dictate into the computer. All the typing I do causes quite a stress on hands, arms and shoulders. He’d heard me complaining and thought the software might help to take the pressure off. So thoughtful and, in its way, romantic.

Ah, the romance of Valentine's Day! 

 But I really knew the romantic in him was still flourishing when my daughter, out of the blue, asked us: “How do you know when it’s the right time to get married?”

Immediately I replied, “When you’ve completed your education, have a job, have travelled—”

Without lifting his head from whatever he was doing my husband replied, “When you fall in love.”

He was so right and put me—a romance writer!—to shame.

Chocolates are welcome any day of the year!

But this romantic husband of the thoughtful presents, doesn't celebrate Valentine's Day. "It's not for married people," he says. No presents, no flowers, no chocolates. To tell the truth, it doesn't bother me, though I like to tease him about his curmudgeonliness.  (Okay, so maybe I'd like chocolates but I'd like them any day of the year!)

Then I'm loving seeing the preparations my daughter's boyfriend (a romantic like her father) is making for their first Valentine's Day together. Sigh!

 My first novel for Harlequin, The Summer They Never Forgot was released last week and is an emotional reunion story.

Readers are telling me the ending, in particular, is deeply romantic. So as not to include spoilers, I’m sharing a romantic moment from earlier in the book with you:

“When Ben lifted his head from the wave and saw Sandy standing on the beach, it was as if the past and the present had coalesced into one shining moment. A joy so unexpected it was painful had flooded his heart. So here he was, against all resolutions, kissing her. Her lips warm and pliant beneath his, her body pressed to his chest. Her eyes, startled at first, and then filled with an expression of bliss. He shouldn’t be kissing her. Starting things he could not finish. Risking pain for both of them. But those thoughts were lost in the wonder of having her close to him again. It was like the twelve years between kisses had never happened.”

 What’s the most romantic thing someone has done for you? The most romantic gift you’ve been given? Or the romantic gesture you’ve made.

Please leave a comment—I’d love to hear about it!

I have two signed copies of The Summer They Never Forgot to give away. Please include your email address in your comment if you want to be included in the draw.

The Summer They Never Forgot is Kandy’s first release from Harlequin Romance in the US, the UK and Australia.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

(Photo of red heart © Caraman| Dreamstime Stock Photos)

Come visit Dolphin Bay! - Kandy Shepherd

One thing I really love about being an author is creating settings for my books. The most fun are settings that spring from my imagination but are heavily influenced by real life places I have visited.

The beautiful south coast New South Wales, Australia, is the setting for The Summer They Never Forgot

 For my fictional small coastal town of Dolphin Bay, the setting of my February 04 release, The Summer They Never Forgot, I was influenced by the beautiful south coast of New South Wales, Australia, about four hours south of Sydney.

I wish I was there right now!

 I have spent many happy vacations there and plundered memories of quaint towns, pristine beaches and unspoiled bushland to create Dolphin Bay. One early review of the book says the setting “is described so beautifully, readers will almost feel the sand between their toes”.

The town of Penguin has penguins everywhere, my fictional Dolphin Bay has dolphins

 The people of my fictional Dolphin Bay celebrate the dolphins that come to frolic in their waters in images and representations of dolphins all over town, from decals to trash cans.

On a recent visit to Penguin the penguins were dressed for Christmas!

 Here, I was influenced by the delightful small, beachside town of Penguin in the southern Australian island state of Tasmania. There are penguins everywhere in Penguin! I personally love dolphins so did for my Dolphin Bay what the good folk of Penguin do for their town.

I loved the dolphin outdoor shower at the Blue Dolphin Inn

 When eighteen months ago I stayed at the wonderful Blue Dolphin Inn in Cambria, California, and saw how cleverly they used dolphins in their décor, I knew I was on the right track!

More beautiful  dolphins at the Blue Dolphin Inn

 Of course in The Summer They Never Forgot the dolphins aren’t what have stayed in my heroine Sandy Adam’s memories of Dolphin Bay—her thoughts center around handsome surfer Ben Morgan, the first love she’d never been able to forget. When Sandy and Ben are reunited after twelve years will they get a second chance at a forever love?

The Summer They Never Forgot, will be released on February 04, 2014 in the US, the UK and Australia. (Yes, I'm counting the days!)

Do you have a special vacation place that lingers in your memory?  Anything quirky about a place that you particularly like? Please leave a comment—I’d love to hear about it!

I have two signed copies of The Summer They Never Forgot to give away. Please include your email address in your comment if you want to be included in the draw.

"Will you please unpack the books and give me the box," my kitty Ivy seems to say.

 Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

Kandy’s contemporary women's fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers. 

Her romances include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Lovin’ summer – Kandy Shepherd

Wherever you live in the world, and whatever festivities are special to you at this time of the year, I'm welcoming the opportunity to wish you all the best!

December Down Under isn’t just about celebrating Christmas and New Year, it’s also about celebrating summer. The schools start their long vacations in December stretch right through to the end of January, the universities go even longer.Our Christmas vacation takes place at the hottest, sunniest time of the year!

Many Aussies decamp to the beach and Christmas Day is often not a traditional sit-down dinner in sometimes sweltering heat but a barbecue. In my days as a food magazine editor we came up with recipes to cook that Christmas feast on a barbecue. We discovered that a butterflied turkey—cut and spread flat—works best.

In our family, with British origins on both sides, we go for the full-on indoors feast—and thank our lucky stars for air-conditioning!

I’m sharing with you today one of my favorite Christmas recipes—Macadamia Shortbread. I only make it once a year, both to keep it special and because I love it so much I’d quite happily eat the whole buttery batch again and again!

I'm sharing the recipe for my favorite Christmas treat - buttery Macadamia Shortbread

While shortbread is Scottish in origin, macadamias are very much Australian. Although they transplanted very happily to Hawaii, these delicious nuts are in fact indigenous to Australia.

If you get a chance to make this recipe I hope you enjoy it! 

MACADAMIA SHORTBREAD

1 ¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour

½ cup cornflour (cornstarch)

250g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 cup macadamia nuts roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow 160˚C (325˚F). Grease and line a 30 x 20cm (11 x 7in) shallow baking pan. Sift the plain (all-purpose) flour and the cornflour (cornstarch) together, then set aside.

2. Cream butter and caster sugar until creamy. Fold in sifted flours and nuts. Press shortbread mixture into the pan. Cut through batter into six squares, then cut each square into four triangles. Bake for 40 min (until just pale golden).

3 Allow to cool in the pan. Transfer to a board and cut into pieces where marked. Store the shortbread in an airtight container.

Note: Recipe works with Australian or American measuring cups, there is only a slight difference.

(The recipe appeared in That’s Life! magazine when I worked there. When I “taste-tested” it, I knew we were onto a winner!)

For many years, I spent part of the Christmas vacation on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales, the state where I live. I love that area so much I created the fictional south coast town of Dolphin Bay in which to set my first novel for Harlequin Romance The Summer They Never Forgot.

The beach, the surf and a pretty harbor are the setting for a deeply emotional romance and brought back happy summer memories for me as I wrote it.

The Summer They Never Forgot, will be released on February 04, 2014 (to give a taste of summer in the northern hemisphere winter!)

Do you have a favorite Christmas/holiday recipe you make every year? Or a recipe you wish someone would make for you? Please leave a comment—I’d love to hear about it!

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

Watch out for  The Summer They Never Forgot, her first release from Harlequin Romance on February 04, 2014 in the US, the UK and Australia.

Kandy’s new contemporary women's fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers. 

Her romances include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com